Two Female Yerevan Council Members Attacked by RPA Councilmen for Bringing Sewage Samples to Session

YEREVAN (A.W.)—Earlier today, a brawl unfolded during the year’s first session of the Yerevan City Council. The violence started after representatives from the Yerkir Tsirani (YT) party brought samples of sewage from the Nubarashen district in Yerevan, where there is a large state correctional facility. Two female members of the YT party were physically attacked and assaulted by members of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

Earlier today, a brawl unfolded during the year’s first session of the Yerevan City Council (Photo: Photolure)

Women of the YT party brought putrid sewage samples to the front of the room, as a “gift” for the Yerevan Mayor from the people of Nubarashen, stating, “The people have to smell it, so you should, too.”

The sewage at the facility is old and has created health hazards, not only for the inmates and people working at the penitentiary, but also for the community living in the vicinity. There have been reports of the sewage overflowing onto the streets.

Nubarashen is also home to the largest unsanitary dumpsite in the country—an issue has been often discussed, but never properly addressed.

In the video, Mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, is heard calling for police or security to take the women out, but council members immediately begin forcing the women, particularly Marina Khachatryan, out of the room. She resists and an altercation ensues, in which Khachatryan slaps Edmond Kirakosyan of the RPA (allegedly for inappropriately grabbing her), and in the video, he is seen slapping her across the face in response.

Zaruhi Postanjian (L) and two other members of the YT party stage at protest at the Feb. 13 session (Photo: Photolure)

Khachatryan’s hair is then pulled from behind, and she is shoved across the room. An article in Hay Zhamanak identifies the names and faces of the six men involved in the violence.

The emergency dispatch also sent medical units to the scene. Yerkir Tsirani leader Zaruhi Postanjian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that two medical units were sent, one to address a heart complaint the other a psychiatric unit that was supposed to take the women to a psychiatric facility.

Postanjian invited the press to the party’s offices to demonstrate that allegedly while the melee was taking place, the party’s offices at the city council were broken into and the putrid-smelling sewer water was thrown at the furniture. She vowed to take pursue legal action.

Once news and footage of the incident leaked, protesters began gathering outside of the municipal building and in the lobby, holding signs reading, “Your nose could not endure the smell, but your eyes are well-accustomed to hitting,” “Women against the regime,” and “You have made this land smell.”

After the incident, Mayor Margaryan issued a statement saying, “We also condemn the use of force and here no one was subjected to the use by anyone else.”

“That foul smell will accompany you wherever you go,” Postanjian told the council members following the melee. “Even your expensive perfume and cognac won’t save you… We are going to poison your lives.”

These kind of internal problems undermine Armenia’s infrastructure, at the very time when Armenians must stand unified against external threats from Turkey and Azerbaijan. Probably, the sewage problem was probably ignored, or put on the back burner, until the councilwomen felt it incumbent upon themselves to literally put it in the face of government officials. These government officials could’ve avoided the embarrassment, if they had taken measures to notify the public of their endeavors to solve the problem.

That’s indeed a lot of physical abuse that was inflicted upon that young hayuhi (Marina Khachatryan). She was slapped across the face; she had her hair pulled from behind; she had her phone slapped out of her hand; and she was thrown all over the room like a beach ball. No Armenian woman deserves to be treated like that!

If there is one tghamard left in Armenia’s politics her name is Zaruhi Postanjian. This woman had the courage to defy charlatan serjik in Strasburg. Since then, she has experienced all kind of abuse by serjik’s gangs but hasn’t budged.

This is the sickening ruling criminal RPA party of serjuk who has been running Armenia like their fieldom, the RPA have a licence to kill,beat,rigg elections,plunder,fraud, and administer their own oligarch’s justice. It has now nominated Armen as President without any close public scrutiny and debate.
Armen has made so many serious political mistakes,He could never be trusted as he is all about looking after himself apart from the fact that he also believes that Artsakh should be part of Azerbaijan with an autonomous statues which he said so in London a while ago which is a total disgrace to put it mildly. The nominee has so many grey areas to address, what a sham.

Wow fully grown men grabbing a woman from her hair, you are so brave, so democratic. I would like to see you try that on another man so that you can get your empty skull cracked open, lets see how brave you are then!

it is the male representative who should be evaluated by the psychiatrist. How sad that in this time and age, our men think they can raise their hand on whoever they want, especially a female. Shame on them.

Once again, well done by those courageous, patriotic Armenian women in bringing those putrid sewage samples into that room and placing them under the noses of those women-beating, putrid Republican Party councilmen to show them what the residents of Nubarashen (as well as other communities on the outskirts of Yerevan) are forced to smell on a daily basis.

These male ‘Armenian’ chauvinists disgust me. Shame on them. All they do is fatten their pockets, they care nothing about the people. Proud of those Brave Armenian Women for trying to take a stand for the people who have to endure those below average living conditions. ##Barbarians.